Date of Award

Summer 2023

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor

Robert L. Price

Abstract

Core biotechnology facilities are often defined as laboratories that house shared resources for research. These laboratories are of great importance to research communities because a large portion of scientific research data is generated at these facilities. Different investigators can use core facilities to help further their research. In a university setting, there are several management strategies from small cores that house a specific type of instrument, to large cores that house many different technologies. Funding strategies also differ significantly, from those that are funded by a small group of well-funded investigators, to cores managed by a specific department or school, to completely centralized core management for the entire university. Each management style provides some advantages and disadvantages.

In this thesis, I have examined the core management strategies at 12 universities. Some house all their core instrumentation under one facility whereas others split the instruments into different cores that offer specific technologies and expertise. Funding, revenue, and expenses of these different research cores were also compared. Other aspects, including laboratory personnel, marketing strategies, and different laboratory management software systems, are also discussed for several of the cores.

Rights

© 2023, Karmen Michael Owen

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